News Broadcasting
IBN 7 to be merged with GBN; 5:1 stock split announced
MUMBAI: Global Broadcast News Ltd today announced the merger of Hindi news channel IBN-7 within itself after acquiring the balance stake in the holding company and a 5-for-1 stock split.
The balance stake in Jagran TV Pvt LTD, the joint venture holding company, is presently with the Gupta family, IBN 7’s original promoters and owners of Hindi print major Dainik Jagran.
GBN will issue 1,467,390 shares of Rs 10 each (4. 45 per cent of GBN’s capital after dilution and exercise of 3,000,000 warrants) to the Gupta family for the balance stake in Jagran TV. A further 1,793,478 equity shares of RS 10 each of GBN will be held in a Trust.
“The Board also accorded approval for sub-division of the nominal value of its equity share from the present RS 10 per share to RS 2 per share resulting in a 5-for-1 stock split,” according to an official statement.
The announcement follows GBN’s acquisition earlier this week of a 10 per cent direct stake in Jagran TV from New Vernon Pvt Equity LTD for RS 200 million. Prior to that transaction, GBN held a 49 per cent stake in the joint venture holding company BK Fincap, which held 90 per cent stake of Jagran TV (the remainder being with New Vernon).
Besides, IBN 7, GBN also owns CNN IBN. It is also entering the regional news space with the launch of a Marathi news channel with Lokmat Group.
Through GBN, Network18 operates a joint venture with Viacom called Viacom18. The JV operates the MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon channels in India – as also Studio18, the Group’s filmed entertainment operation and will be launching a Hindi general entertainment channel.
News Broadcasting
Rajesh Sundaram joins NDTV Profit as senior editor, assignment
The 32-year newsroom veteran has launched channels on three continents and covered everything from 9/11 to South African television
MUMBAI: NDTV Profit has bolstered its newsroom with a hire who has done rather more than most. Rajesh Sundaram, a journalist with over three decades of editorial, managerial and consultative experience across India and international markets, joins as senior editor, assignment, tasked with sharpening the network’s newsgathering and real-time response.
Sundaram’s career reads like a tour of Indian media’s most formative moments. He began at Businessworld in 1994, moved to Zee News as bureau chief across Mumbai and Chennai, then joined NDTV in 2002 as part of its political bureau during a particularly febrile period in Indian politics. A stint as India correspondent for Al Jazeera International followed, where he covered key geopolitical developments and got his first serious taste of the global newsroom.
What sets Sundaram apart, however, is his serial channel-launching habit. At NewsX, he helped get the operation off the ground. At Headlines Today, part of the India Today Group, he served as editor. At News Nation, he helped launch the Hindi news channel and its digital ecosystem. He then crossed continents to lead the launch of ANN7 in South Africa as editor-in-chief, overseeing both television and digital. Back in India, he launched Tamil news channels News7 Tamil and Cauvery News, and later served as principal consultant for the launch of Marathi channel Lokshahi. Most recently, he helped build and lead the Press Trust of India’s video service and content studio, before stints consulting for Business Today and The Himalayan Times.
Rahul Kanwal, chief executive and editor-in-chief of NDTV, left little doubt about what Sundaram is expected to deliver. “The assignment desk is where a newsroom’s intent becomes action,” he said. “Rajesh brings a rare combination of field experience and leadership in building news operations at scale.”
Sundaram has reported from across India and the world, covering elections, civil conflicts, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 US presidential election.
At NDTV Profit, he will lead the assignment desk, driving editorial coordination and real-time response across markets and breaking developments. For a business news network sharpening its focus on speed and multi-platform delivery, it has hired a man who has built newsrooms from scratch on three continents. The assignment desk is in good hands.
